The dollar fell for the first time in four days as a commodity selloff moderated, boosting the currencies of some resource-exporting nations.
Norway’s krone jumped from its lowest in more than 13 years, while South Africa’s rand and the Colombian peso climbed from record lows. The Brazilian real led gains versus the U.S. currency, rising to its highest since Nov. 27.
Commodity currencies found a foothold as a slump in the price of raw materials slowed. Oil briefly gained amid a report showing U.S. supplies of the raw material shrank last week, before trading little changed. A downward adjustment in output from the U.S. is needed for a sustained rally, JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s John Normand said on Bloomberg Television.
“It was nothing more than a brief temporary trading bounce within an otherwise very toxic downtrend for commodities,” said Richard Franulovich, chief currency strategist for the northern hemisphere at Westpac Banking Corp. in New York. The dollar has suffered from risk aversion during the past few days that “may well be feeding on itself today,” he said.
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, which tracks the greenback versus 10 peers, lost 0.6 percent to 1,223.03 as of 12:41 p.m. in New York, falling for the first time since Dec. 3.
Brazil’s real and Norway’s krone both added more than 1 percent. The rand added 0.2 percent while Colombia’s peso rose 1.1 percent. The Bloomberg Commodity Index was little changed near its lowest since 1999.
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